Bentley SUV will be the Bentley Falcon

It looks like Bentley has come up with a name for its SUV – Bentley Falcon – and, as expected, it will get a complete redesign before it arrives.

It’s only a month since we reported that the Bentley SUV – EXP 9 F – was on hold as VW looked to keep costs in check and hold off on its uber-luxury SUV until the world was a little more financially settled.

But it now seems that VW has bitten the bullet on the Bentley SUV and signed it off for production, when it will apparently come complete with a new Bentley name – Bentley Falcon.

The news of a name for Bentley’s luxury off-roader comes from Georg Kacher writing in Automobile Magazine and, although it perhaps doesn’t resonate particularly in the UK, it will probably have more impact on the target market for the SUV – the Middle East – where the Falcon is a big deal.

Georg also tells us that Bentley’s new head of design – Luc Donckerwolke – has been tasked with giving the Falcon a complete exterior make-over after the lukewarm reception it got on its arrival at Geneva in the spring. That redesign will focus on the exterior to make it less heavy-handed, with the interior – which does look good – staying much the same.

Although VW has had a change of heart on the Bentley SUV and decided to move forward with it, it seems that the other luxury brand plans – the Lamborghini Urus, Bugatti Galibier and Bentley Azure Convertible – are still on hold and will be reviewed in another twelve months.

So it looks like the 2013 Range Rover will get some competition from Bentley after all. Whether Bentley continues with its plans to bring in the Falcon at around £150k – quite close to the top end price of the RR – or goes for a very premium price of around £250k (which is what Bentley dealers we’ve spoken to want to see) remains to be seen.